The first recording of this song to be released came even before the original cast album version of January 1958. Promotional copies of the 45 rpm single, Capitol P3847, were released on November 26, 1957, even before the Broadway production had premiered on December 19. Produced by Nelson Riddle, it featured his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney.

Paul McCartney was introduced to Peggy Lee's music by his older cousin, Bett Robbins, who would occasionally baby-sit the two McCartney brothers.[1] McCartney said: "I had no idea until much later that it was from The Music Man."[2] "Till There Was You" was part of the Beatles' repertoire in 1962 and performed at the Star Club in Hamburg.[3] It became illustrative of the Beatles' versatility, proving they could appeal to all sections of an audience, moving easily from softer ballads to harder rock and roll, as in their appearance on November 4, 1963 at the Royal Variety Performance when they followed this song with "Twist and Shout".[4]

The band had previously performed "Till There Was You" as part of their failed audition for Decca Records in London on January 1, 1962,[3] and it was the second of five the group sang during their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.[4][5]

Live versions of the song were released on Live at the BBC (1994) and Anthology 1 (1995). The latter version was recorded when the Beatles played at the Royal Variety Performance; because the album was cut so that live numbers began with the actual song, John Lennon's famous request that those in the royal box "rattle your jewelry" to "Twist and Shout" is in fact included on the "Till There Was You" track. When introducing this song (likewise placed on "She Loves You" for Anthology), McCartney commented that the song "had also been recorded by our favourite American group, Sophie Tucker".[4][6] This tongue-in-cheek comment by McCartney unwittingly began an urban legend that "Till There Was You" was an old Sophie Tucker song,[citation needed] when in fact, there is no record of her ever performing the tune.[citation needed]